Religions of India: Hinduism and Jainism
Hinduism is characterized by not only one Supreme God but also by many gods and goddesses, such as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi, Parvathi, Saraswathi and so on. In Hinduism they are regarded as the manifestation of Iswara, the Universal Creative Consciousness, or the Saguna Brahman.
Brahman is the central theme of Hinduisms. Brahman is the indescribable, inexhaustible, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, rudimentary, eternal and absolute principle who is without a beginning and without an end. He is incomprehensible even to almost all the gods. Brahman is not adulated in the temples and other places of worship but in one's heart and mind as the in dweller of the material body. This is why there aren't any temples or forms of ritualistic worship existing for Brahman either at present time or in the past. Brahman of the Upanishads is more appealing to the seekers of Truth and Knowledge than seekers of material gains
In addition to gods and goddesses, Hinduism also come across the worship of many objects such as trees, plants, rivers, lakes, snakes, hills, the various planets, some stars, constellations, the sun, the moon and so on are objects of their veneration.
The Hindus worship the gods and goddesses variously adding further complexity to the manner of worship in Hinduism. They may worship them all or only some of them at a time, or venerate each of them separately as the Supreme God himself. There are traditions according to which each Hindu god is to be worshipped on a particular day in a week, month or year and many follow these traditions. There are certain specific rules and regulations to be observed by the devout Hindus while worshipping them, which involve p ...